The Shinra Affair: Chrome
by BleedingHeartsoftheWorldUnite
Summary: After being saved by Rude, Larette Black is on the mend, searching for her identity while Rufus continues his search for her. The sequel to "Tears of Black" and "Were He Alive", recap inside.
1. Mother, Come Take Me Home

**If you haven't read either "Tears of Black" or "Were He Alive", fret not, for I shall recap! In ToB, Larette Black is a Turk, who had violated her own morals when she fell in love with her employer's son, Rufus Shinra. She had been shot in the head and left for dead after she had "resigned". President Shinra didn't think that Larette was suitable for Rufus, so he blackmailed her into quiting. On her last day in the office, he shot her in the head and ordered Rude, her mentor, to dispose of the body. In WHA, an alternate time line were Zack didn't die, Larette, Zack, and Cloud worked together as mercenaries. She lost all memories of her time as a Turk. Zack Fair was Larette's first crush and a fellow townsman, and he went with her to help her get answers. While searching for Rude, they briefly met up with Tseng, who hid them in his office, and Rufus, who at once realized the woman he loved was within his reach. Zack and Larette had been found out, more or less, and President Shinra killed Zack (though there is an alternate ending for that one). I'm sorry it took so long to post, I've been having a really hard time trying to decide what direction to take the story in. If too many people hate it, I just might rewrite it...**

**P.S.**

**Please enjoy and Review!**

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Cressida Hale lived a happy life with her family. She was a caring older sister and a respectful daughter, loved by those who knew her. The only thing is, her life is one gigantic lie...

After being ordered to "get rid" of Larette's body, Rude had taken her from President Shinra's office to a seedy but trustful motel. It was only like that in that Rude was practically the owner's family. As the President coldly cleaned off his gun, ignoring the nearly dead body of the woman his son loved, and was waiting for the Turk to get Larette out of his sight, Rude picked her up carefully, spotting at once that she wasn't completely gone yet... Seeing at least a small chance to bring her back and keep her alive, Rude carried her out of the back of the building to the slums, careful that no one saw. He left her in the care of Alexander and Zazah Hale, staying only long enough to tend to her wound and make sure she was in the clear. Larette was out cold most of the time he was with her, but at one time, she woke up enough for him to take her seriously.

He had just managed to gingerly extract the bullet, when her hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him, "AAAAAUUUURRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" She continued to scream until her voice went horse, "Wha...Hn...No, don't tell him...Can't...Find out...Rufus!" Larette was under no anesthesia, nor any other kind of medicine, but still, Rude took her request seriously. He didn't know why, but he agreed to pretend to know nothing about Larette vanishing. No matter what, he would never tell her secret...

Rude left her after that, telling the Hale's to leave Larette a message. He could not risk seeing Larette again, so he had no choice but to go on with the double charade of not knowing that she had been "murdered", nor that he knew of her whereabouts. He did not like lying about all of this to everyone, but he had to in order to protect his friend and comrade...The message to Larette was that he would always be there to help her, no matter what...

Larette woke up, groggy, discombobulated, and with a pain that could never be described, even in ten lifetimes. She held the neatly wrapped gauze bandage around her head, wondering what in the world had put her in this state. Larette remembered nothing, literally nothing. Not her name, or her friends, or her family...Absolutely nothing. Everything was a complete blank, everything. She was not frightened, because for all she knew, this could have been her room, her house. It might not have been, fair enough, but she realized that because her head had been so tenderly cared for, and the fact that she was not in restraints proved that she was in no immediate danger. How she was so calm and figured that out so easily, she had no clue...

"Oh, you're awake!" A plump woman, almost elderly but still quite young-looking, came into the room and set down a tray of food for Larette on the nightstand.

She looked at the woman curiously, "Who are you?"

Always wanting a daughter, and having a kind, unmalicious heart, Zazah took pity on the poor girl, "Dear heart, don't you remember anything?"

Larette shook her head, a huge mistake that only intensified the pain, "Sorry."

Zazah was relieved to see that Larette was still able to speak and perform basic motor functions, as not even Rude was sure she'd be able to. "I'm..." She decided that it would be best to lie, because at least this way, they could all be happy. "Your mother."

Larette believed her easily enough, for what proof did she have to not to? "Mother...And who am I?"

Rude had not told them her name, in fact, he said that if she did remember it, it would be best to take a fake name. Zazah had always wanted her daughter to have this name, "Cressida. Cressida Hale."

She repeated the name, aceepting it as her own. It seemed to fit her. "Cressida..."

Zazah nodded to herself, "Yes...sweet Lucrezia would have liked that..."

"Lucrezia...?" That name...it sounded very familar..."Who's that, mother?"

"Oh!" Zazah hadn't realized that she had said that aloud, "Lucrezia...Lucrezia WAS my sister. That's right!" Zazah suddenly remembered something, "Eat while I go tell your father and brother that you're awake..." She left the room. Cressida sat up slowly, woozy from moving her head. She ate the warm tomato soup ravenously.

Zazah walked into her living room, and she guiltily sat in front of her husband, twiddling her thumbs. He was only a few years younger than his wife, but he could have passed for their son's older brother. He was reading the paper, shaking his head at the news. Alexander had wanted a daughter even more than his wife did, if that were even possible, but talking to him while he was reading the paper was a bad idea.

"Er...Dear?" She cleared her throat, rushing her words like word vomit, "That girl that Rude brought in...She's awake. And I told her that she was our daughter, Cressida."

"Who's Rude?" Their son came in and set his bag on the table. He had never met Rude, and Rude never even knew they had a son. He also never met the older sister his mother insisted he had. "Cressida's home?"

Alexander looked up at his son, "Apparently."

"Can I go meet her mother, can I?" He headed back toward the door.

She sighed, "Just a minute, Kadaj. Alexander? Do you want to greet her, too?"

He got up and set the paper down. He nodded, "...Yeah."

So all three went to her room, good intentions all around. Kadaj, Sephiroth's cousin, was thrilled to finally get to meet his older sister. Zazah warned her son first, "Kadaj, Cressida's been in an accident, so she doesn't remember anything. Try not to bother her too much, all right?"

He nodded, "Geez, I won't!"

She nodded and opened the door not a minute too late. Cressida had tried to get out of the bed, but she had fallen to the floor. She was struggling to get her legs working again. Kadaj ran over to her and helped her back into the bed. Alexander sighed, shaking his head.

"Dear heart, you shouldn't be trying to move yet!" Zazah scolded.

Cressida looked down, "Sorry, mother. I don't know what I was thinking..."

She patted her daughter's knee as she sat down beside her, Kadaj and Alexander lingering in the doorway. "Cressida, dear, this is your brother, Kadaj, and your father."

"Kadaj..." She smiled at him, "Thank you for helping me up..."

He blushed, brushing his silvery hair back, "It's nothing..."

She giggled, "You're funny. I think we'll get along great, right, mother, father? Everything'll be all right now, won't it?"

Mr. and Mrs. Hale looked at each other, "...Right, everything'll be perfect."

As time passed and Cressida became well enough, she took to walking through the slums, often visiting a church in the Sector 5 slums. She met another girl who tended the flowers there, and they became good friends...


	2. Fire Burn, Memory Cease

**Sorry, between school, playing FFvii (I got it the day before school started (no, I won't be going back to correct my past chapters)), things have been busy...This probably won't be a very long story, and I'm only planing on one more part (as in story) after this, so be prepared! Bad Lion King, bad! Sorry...Anyways, this isn't the last chapter, I'm just giving everyone an early warning, this series is reaching its end. Better to end it while its still decent and I have the will to end it...**

**P.S.**

**Please enjoy and Review!**

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After Cressida Hale had healed from the gun wound to her head and she adjusted to her life as the eldest daughter of innkeepers, she took to walking through the slums, often visiting an abandoned church in the Sector 5 slums. She and her good friend, Aerith Gainsborough, spent almost too much time together, mostly just sitting around and tending to the flowers...Until the day an agent of Shinra came looking for Aerith. He was a Turk...His name, was Reno...

"...! Aerith!" Cressida had ran into the church in a dizzy, the basket of flower seeds in her arms flying away, seeds going ever which way. Aerith hummed cheerfully, not even noticing the frantically flailing female. Cressida tried again, only louder, "Aerith, quick!"

She dragged Aerith outside, showing her that a group of men in blue suits were searching for her. Aerith smiled at her friend and went back inside. "It's alright..."

"But!..." She gave up, knowing how her friend was.

The flower girl walked back inside and knelt by the bright yellow flowers. The fake sister followed, sitting on one of the benches with her hands crossed gracefully over her lap, admiring the sheer and unbridled beauty. She was apprehensive, but at peace, a mysterious side-affect from staying with Aerith, or perhaps the church itself. Reno was not far behind her, in fact, he was close enough to reach out and grab her shoulder. He did, which caused the girl to fling him over her shoulder and pin him to the ground, arm ready to break should she so chose to apply even the slightest pressure. Aerith stopped working to stand guard in front of the defenseless flowers.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! I give!" He tapped out.

Cressida released him, only because she had acted automatically, so she was almost instantly apologizing, ""I'm so sorry, sir!"

He looked at the girl who had owned his ass, shocked to see who it was. "Larette? What the hell are you doing here? Rufus has been worse than ever without you around!" It was true. In his off time, he was moping around, being twice as irritable, and when he was working, Rufus was three times as cruel. Unbelievable as it sounded, Larette was somewhat able control him without trying, and if she had desired...It's too scary to think about what she could cause, if she had the mind...

She blinked, cleaning the dust off her simple ice-white dress, "I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

"Sir? Com'on, it's me, Reno! You and Rude are the only two who could beat me-" The two behind him snorted at that, clearly disagreeing. "-like that." He shook his head, "Sheesh! You're a real handful..." He suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place. "We're looking for someone named Aerith...But, I do have higher orders...To bring in Larette Black, as is."

She looked at back at Aerith in amusement, "Run!"

Both girl's giggled, zigzagging past the monkeys in suits as if it were only a game of tag. They somehow managed to slip past the Turk and his flunkies, escaping out of the front door. Reno ordered the others to wait at the church in case one of them returned, and he went after Larette personally, more interested in her behavior than his actual orders. She saw him pursuing, so she used her skills as a Turk, though she was unclear as to how she able to use skills like that, to evade him. She rushed past several stores and alleyways, but in her exhilaration, she missed the correct turn and ran straight into a dead end. Reno stopped short, just to show that he meant her no harm.

He clutched his side, sure that Larette was Larette by the way she had outran him, "Man, you sure haven't rusted...So what happened to you? You do realize the trouble Shinra's been having, don't you?"

Cressida looked at him, "Why do you keep acting like you know me? I don't know you...or what you're talking about..."

"You're kidding me, right? You mean, you honestly don't remember? You're Larette Black, a Turk like me...How else could you have beaten me? Man, things have been a real pain without you...If you don't believe me, just stop by the office sometime...What was your name again?" He knew that he wasn't wrong about her identity, her skills speaking for themselves. "You can ask for me...Reno, if you keep insisting that you don't know me..."

She nodded, wondering if he wasn't lying, "...Cressida. My name is Cressida Hale..." She did not like the alternative, if he wasn't lying. Her parents, her brother...They would have to be liars..."I'll come see you sometime...Maybe..."

He shrugged, turning to leave, "Whatever." He just left, leaving behind one last thing to think about, "Oh, and tell your friend that we'll be in touch."

Cressida returned home, going straight to her room. Aerith could take care of herself, but she wasn't so sure about whether or not she could do the same. Reno had left her with much to ponder, and ponder she did. Could her family have been lying to her? Was it possible that her name was really...What did Reno call her...? Larette Black? But why? What was there to gain? Was the game to earn her trust to turn her lose for their cause? Was it revenge against Shinra for some unspoken wrong? Was it just because they could?

Kadaj was in the middle of a late lunch when he saw his sister come home. Usually, she went looking for a snack before retiring to their father's study and immersing herself in his books. He found it odd that she made a beeline for her room, not even bothering to check and see if anyone else was home. Oh yeah, he almost forgot, he had to tell her that their parents would be out, trying to quiet Shinra's fires so no innocent civilians took drastic and violent measures. Stupid, considering that it could go wrong at any moment and Kadaj would be left alone, an orphan...

"Um...," Kadaj knocked nervously on his sister's door. There was no answer, so he entered cautiously. Cressida had fallen asleep, over-thinking yet again... Kadaj slowly approached her, gently shaking her awake. "Cress...Cressida, Mother and Father won't be home for awhile..." She didn't wake up. He shook her shoulder again, but to no avail. She slept on...breathing softly...her chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"Zzzzz...Rufus...!" She jumped up, startled out of a nightmare... She was nothing short of shocked to see Kadaj standing over her. "Eek! What are you doing in here?"

He backed away, "Who's Rufus?"

She looked at him as if he was crazy, "What? What are you talking about?"

He shook his head, "It's probably nothing...You just said the name while you were sleeping. Did you have a funny dream?"

She didn't even have to think about it..."Cressida" remembered a black-and-white old movie type of setting, occasional color popping out. A man, in a white suit and with yellow hair glaring out as if he were the sun, he was talking to a woman, a woman that resembled herself but that was so much prettier and less scarred than the real her, and she was crying from bright, smudgy orbs.

_"Rufus...You know we can't continue this when we get back home... It never should have happened in the first place..." She cried, looked out over the hanger at the plane in the middle of preparing for its flight._

_Rufus shook his head, refusing to be tossed aside like that, "You act as if something actually happened..." The woman was about to protest, but he caught her lower-lip with his finger, "*******, all you did was admit the truth...Besides, its not like it was a real secret..."_

_She looked a her feet, even more tears rolling off her cheeks, "...So, they all knew it...Why'd...why'd you make me say it then if you already knew?"_

_He sighed, grabbed her face in his hands and wiping away her fresh tears with his thumbs, "I wasn't sure...Why you loved me...If you really loved me..."_

_She choked, laughing at that, "Why I love you? Isn't it obvious? I love you because I trust you, with all my heart. I know you, your personality, your likes, your dislikes, your past, what you want in the future...your strengths and weaknesses, I know them all...Maybe not as well as some other people, but I know enough to say that I really know the real you. You...You're not like me, not much, but...I know that you're all I need...I can't explain what's in my heart and in my head more than I could make a mountain into a whole new planet, all I know is that, for me, you're it...Rufus, I trust you."_

_He kissed her forehead, "You make it so hard...To be mad...*******, I'll wait for you...But I'm not making any promises after you're off duty..."_

And then she woke-up. Cressida looked at her brother, trying to act normal as if she wasn't afraid by the dream and her conversation with Reno, "Kadaj, are Yazoo and Loz coming over?"

He nodded, "You know they always come over when our parents are helping calm the people..." Kadaj thought of his friends, really his cousins on his father's side, though they all acted closer to brothers. They all had fun with his sister, and she enjoyed their company in return, though they all wished that they could meet her cute friend, Aerith. Cressida knew Aerith, so she never even mentioned it to her. "But maybe tonight..."

She shook her head, "Aerith has to help her mom. Besides, if she comes over, the teams will be uneven."

"Yeah, I guess." He looked back toward the front door, waiting for either a knock or a click, depending on who got to the door first. If it was Yazoo, he would knock on the door and wait to be allowed in, and if it was Loz, he would just unlock the door with his key. "They should be here soon. Erm..." He wanted to know if she would be alright enough to watch over them, not that they required a babysitter. "You're alright, right?"

She hugged her brother, ruffling his hair, "Kadaj...I'm alright."

He was still skeptical as frantic pounding came from the front door. Cressida pushed her brother safely behind her and went to the door, opening it. Loz and Yazoo fell to the ground at her feet, black and trembling in a useless heap. She didn't even need to ask what was wrong, the smoke billowing towards the inn like death itself was answer enough.

She shouted urgently back at her brother, some other force taking her over, "Kadaj, take them someplace safe...I'll come back!" She streaked off to find any survivors in the swirling steel-grey plumes.


	3. Echos of a Memory

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Probably not the best chapter, but I went through two separate drafts to get here. In the other one, Larette/Cressida enters a bar (which was changed into a mill in this version), and while looking for her parents (whom she does not find) is crushed under a support beam. Reno saves her (he and Rude had started the fire in the first place), and they nurse her back to health (she was severely bruised from the shoulder to hip on her left side). I abandoned that idea, finding it way too similar to how she became Cressida Hale. That, and it didn't mesh up to later in the time line.

I'm sorry that the chapter took so long! It'll probably take (about) this long to update from now on. I hope not, but that's what it is...

P.S.

Please be kind and review!

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Quondam Turk Larette Black, or Cressida Hale as she thought her name was, ran into the heart of a raging inferno. She had only one thing on her mind, and that was finding her parents. But why? Was it for Kadaj? Her sweet younger brother who only had his family for support? Was it just a human reaction? Mere muscle-memory from her time as a Turk? Or was it something else? Was she spurred on for her own selfish purposes, whatever they may have been?

"Please...please, you can't be gone... You can't!" She murmured desperately to herself as she ran, seeking out the abandoned mill the disgruntled public held their semi-rebellious meetings in.

"Cressida?" A gasping woman screamed from behind the window of a burning building. The windows had been sealed shut from the outside, vermilion flames licking through, preventing any outside help. "Cressida! Go, get out of here!" She hacked, smoke filling her lungs and the lungs of every remaining soul still barely alive. Cressida tried to get close, but a large fan blade from the wind-powered mill fell from the roof. "CRESSIDA!"

"Argh! It's no use!" She had avoided being hit, but she had been trapped between the smothering window and the collapsing roof, dragged down after the whirling blade. "Mother..." She coughed, smoke and dust quickly drowning her airway, "...I'll...get you... Out...?" She fell to her knees, more falling from the sky onto her head.

_Everything was dancing... The room she was in was in was blue, or maybe eggshell... She wasn't sure, the world had ceased to be beyond the dreamy man holding her..._

_"Heh, is that the best a Turk can do?" He teased lightly, the woman in his grasp blushing furiously, still a tad miffed about being tricked into this date._

_"Oh, you're so horrible!" She gently smacked his arm, trying to escape her charge's clutches. But very hard. "...Turks can do anything. I'm just..."_

_He took advantage of her loss of speech, "Enjoying my arms around you? Falling for me as I spin you around and around? Embarrassed from being put in this position?" He transitioned from the Viennese waltz to the tango. She clumsily fell into step, looking far more graceful than she actually was under his lead. "You should give yourself more credit. You're a great dancer."_

_"Idiot." Not very eloquent, but everything was too much. He had really gone all out to impress her, and it worked better than he had hoped. "Geez, you're so...so...so...STUPID!" She pushed him off._

_He grabbed her wrist before she could get very far, spinning her so that her back was against him. He pressed his face into her neck, completely blocking her off from escape. She began trembling, on the verge of giving into feelings she's been secretly harboring for quite some time. He smiled, moving his hand from her waist to her neck, causing her shake with greater force. He laughed, tickling her with his breath._

_"It's no use...Your quavering gives away...Everything." He nuzzled her throat, moving toward her jaw, her lips, with tantalizing speed. "Just..." He grasped her neck weak enough to enable her to escape, but strong enough that she needed to really want it. "A small..." He tilted her head so that their lips could meet, "Kiss."_

_He kissed her, completely wiping her mind blank. She was too far into the moment to react, too content to cool off her white-hot nerves. She buckled, just for a moment. Turning around to better face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, knotting her fingers into his golden mane. Just as he realized what she was doing, she snapped back into her senses. She pulled back from his lips, from his face, and from him, striking his cheek with full force._

_"You! YOU! YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU? THAT WAS...I'D NEVER...I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR STEALING MY LIPS!" She took a deep breath, realizing her place, "...Thank you for the lovely night, sir."_

_She stormed out of the room, her heart pounding at a thousand and one miles per second. She only made it past the doors, sinking down the blue ceder door. She held her knees to her heart, crying silently._

_Though she may have never known this, the man inside the room she had just vacated was feeling guilty for the first time in his life. He told himself that had he known about her having never been kissed, he would not have done it. But he knew that that was a lie. He would have kissed her, no matter what it took. He really liked that woman, and maybe even cared about her. He never would have guessed how much though, not before the guilt hit him like it did..._

"Hello!" Aerith greeted her friend like she had greeted all unconscious persons. A little girl with dark hair was hiding behind her, clutching her pink dress. "Marlene, go tell my mother that she's awake?" The girl dropped her hands from Aerith and left, not that uneager to depart. She turned back to Cressida, "So...Did you remember anything?"

Larette sat up, blinking. She was in Aerith's room. "How...?"

"Did I know? I..." Aerith didn't want to say, "I'm not sure. I just knew, ever since we became friends, that you were searching for the real you." She knew at least a little more than she was letting on, "If you're well enough, I suggest that you leave. You have answers to find, don't you?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess your right... Kadaj!" She suddenly remembered the boys, left alone while she went looking for his parents.

Aerith shook her head, frowning deeply, "I'm sorry. The mill...its gone. The fire completely consumed everything inside before it was put out." She saw what her friend wanted to ask next, so she told her. "I don't know what happened to the boys...I looked for them while mother brought you here, but it was no good...I'm so sorry..."

Larette was heartbroken to hear that, but she knew that now was the time for tears. "And what about me? How did I survive?"

Aerith wasn't sure how to answer that. "I'm not sure. I was on my way home when I saw you, trapped between the debris and the fire. I found some help, and when we reached you, all that was wrong with you was that your airway was blocked. We brought you here after clearing it."

She was silent for a few moments, taking that in."...Thank you."

Aerith felt in her heart that there was much more in those two words than could be explained. She smiled, "Yeah!"

_No one told her how much it would hurt. Falling in love was so easy, so fast, but no one told her how much it would hurt, trying to hide her tears, praying that the pain wouldn't become yet another scar. She had held on for so long, resisting every little thing he threw her way, but she was wearing thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. She knew that she couldn't do it, not for much longer. She was about to break, about to give in and abandoned her precious morals. She just couldn't do it anymore..._

_"This is rare. You never come talk to me," Tseng, leader of the Turks, sat at his desk as she slumped down in the chair opposite him, "What can I do for you?"_

_She groaned, "I can't do it anymore! I'm too conflicted..."_

_Tseng listened silently as Larette told her story, speaking only after she was completely done, "It sounds to me that you really do love him. Maybe, you could compromise?"_

_She shook her head, "No, either I see my job through to the end, or I give it up for him."_

_"You'd really do that? Give up the job you've fought so hard for?" He thought of the girl he liked and smiled warmly, "I can't lie, I've been in a similar place before, but I realized what quiting would do to not only the one I care about, but to my comrades. You're excellent at what you do...In fact, I'd say that you're my pick for succession..."_

_That really was what she needed to hear. It didn't make her decision any easier, but it made her options clearer. "Thank you for listening, sir. If I may just ask you one small favor? I need a week off, to clear my head. Please?"_

_"Say no more." He nodded, drawing out a small stack of forms from his desk, "Let me get things in order, but you can take your week off ASAP."_

_"Thank you!" She hugged him, so relieved. "Sorry..." She mumbled before running off to pack._

_After saving her from her harsh older twin sister, Caris, and just before leaving Gongaga, Rufus sat in Larette's hotel room. She was crying again, upset that she had to part from her home on such a sad note. Rufus had been with her since breakfast, bringing her half of what he ordered. A good thing too, because she hadn't even realized that she was hungry until he came over. He had been trying to cheer her up all morning._

_"Larette, do you like Chocobos?" He asked, knowing that she adored the feathered creatures._

_"...Yes." She wondered where he was going with that._

_He smirked, "Well, how about..." He put his finger to his chin in thought, "I tattoo one to my forehead. Then every time you look at me, you can smile."_

_She laughed, "I'd only smile because you were dumb enough to do that in the first place. And because I already know that you care enough about me to do anything you could for my sake. Besides, just looking at you, as you are, makes me happy."_

_He pointed at her, "Ah, a smile. I haven't sen one of those in a while."_

_She sighed, leaning up against him with her legs tucked under her on the hideous tangerine and acid lime flora couch. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, making her smile again. "I wish we didn't have to go back..."_

_He nodded, "You know we don't HAVE to go back, if we don't want to."_

_"And then what?" She wiped her eyes, chuckling as she imagined them selling something, anything, by the road, just to move to the next town._

_"We could elope." He was very serious when he said that, but she mistook it for a joke._

_"Oh, yes! That would look so attractive, going to my sister and asking 'I know you hate my guts, but would you please marry us?'. She'd throw the whole house on my head!" Larette shook her head, cowering at how strong her sister probably was now._

_He weakly laughed alongside her, "Yeah...It'd be pretty stupid..."_

_Larette surprised him, suddenly brushing his hair back and kissing him. "Sorry!" She moved from her seat to his lap, sitting with her back completely to the door that he was facing. "I'm so sorry..." She twisted her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. "I can't help myself..." _

_His arm wound its way around her waist. As always, just before getting to the good part, she came to her senses. She pushed herself off of him, scowling. "Rufus! You're using the manipulate materia, again, aren't you? That's so underhanded! You know how old-fashioned I am!"_

_He reached into his pocket and pulled out not one yellow materia, but three. He gave them to her the same way a child would hand over a toy to his mother when caught in the act of doing something bad. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself!"_

_She rolled her eyes. Normally, she would have been angrier and would have 'punished' him, but today...She didn't. "If I catch you doing this again, there will be dire consequences! You're off the hook for today, but don't make me regret it!"_

_"Yes, mom." He stuck his tongue out at her, resulting in them both falling to the thick yellow carpet in peels of laughter._


	4. End of a Dream

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Short, but what the hell? I have the right to make it as short or long as I want it! OK, this sucks badly, but this is the end. Not of the series, but of this story. If you liked it, keep your eyes out for the next instalment! But the title may vary slightly if there's not enough room.

Note: Larette's ultimate weapon (two swords chained together ((like Nariko in Heavenly Sword, or two katanas connected at the ends by a chain))) is named for Zack Fair. In Crisis Core, Zack has an attack called Rush Assault, when Angeal appears in the DMW. So, Rush (obvious) Angel (Angeal).

P.S.

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Almost at once, Larette was ready to leave the Section 5 slums, her guilt for Kadaj's fate and her weapon, Rush Angel, her only companions. She set off in the dead of night, under the protection of velvet ink, a letter addressed to her friend left on the neatly folded bedding. She had one purpose, and only one. That was to forsake everything and to talk to Rufus one last time. She knew what it felt like to be alone, scared and uncertain, and she refused to leave him like that. She had no intentions of staying, but he had to know the truth.

Bypassing the security of the new Shinra manor with relative ease, Larette slipped past the roboguards that had replaced her. Dressed no differently than usual, she climbed the outer wall, flipping passed the windows and lights. Like the shadow of the sliest cat, she found the window to Rufus's study open, gossamer silver curtains fluttering in the cool night's breeze. She assumed it was for her, should she try to ever find him.

"... reactor meltdown." The cold and uncaring voice of Scarlet, a higher-up in the company, cut through the room as she gloated, "Many in the area have died."

The unmistakable voice of Rufus answered, just as concerned as she was apathetic, "Gongaga's reactor hasn't-"

Though she couldn't see them, Larette could easily image Scarlet's reaction, "Come now, surely you know that Gongaga was never a high priority? Don't tell me you only care for concern of that..._woman_...? The reactor malfunctioned, and many of the villagers died. If _she_ was even still alive, I doubt she'd stupid enough to go back home. Clearly, if she's even alive, a major if at this point, she would have come back to you by now..."

He brushed his hair back, much like Larette had done in Gongaga, and he walked to the doorway, back to the window and the woman he loved, "That's enough business for tonight. You gave me the news, so you no longer have any reasons to linger."

She didn't like that answer very much, "If you pine over dead girls, you'll join them all too soon."

And she clomped out of the house. Rufus sighed, walking to the balcony to stretch his arms out from the railing. He looked back, right where Larette was concealing herself, then shook his head as if he had gone crazy, "You'd probably laugh if you saw me now..." He looked up at the sky, "Worrying about you like this."

She dropped down from the ceiling like a vampire, "Maybe, if not for Gongaga..." She hung back, smiling sheepishly, trepidation and sorrow holding her hands.

"I trust you have a good reason for leaving me like that?" He demanded, acting as she had only been gone a day, on leave. He suddenly frowned, too happy to see her breathing to care much at the moment for her absence. "You're an Ex-Turk, that's for sure. Lying, manipulative..."

Larette ran into his arms, overwhelmed, "Oh, just stop, you ham!"

They embraced wordlessly. For hours, maybe eternities, they were silent, basking in their revelry. They had reunited at long last...

"Rufus...Do you hate me?" She finally asked, casually draped over the burgundy sofa in his room. Larette had told him everything, from the very beginning of meeting him. He had remained flat on his face on the floor, just under the fluffy red cushions, but she knew that he was listening, his hand reacting over hers. "I understand, if you do."

He finally sat up, "Stupid. As if I could ever hate you! I have done everything in my power all for you. I'd do anything for my future..."

She turned beat-red as he reached into his pants pocket for a small white box with two intertwined lines of black ribbon. "..."

"I've been saving this, ever since you left. I realized after Reno took you away that I was stupid for not doing this sooner, and I went straight away to get this for you, but you never came back." He brushed his hair clear of his face, "I love you, Larette."

**To be continued in "In Regards to the Shinra Affair"...**


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